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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To wonder if this is a fat girl problem

120 replies

Star1234567890 · 25/06/2018 10:56

I've always been slightly bigger than most, not always overweight but even at my slimmest 12-14, as a pair shape I would still have a belly, wobbly thighs and fat upper arms whilst having twig legs and a decollege that made me look gaunt.

I'm current 15stone and have recently lost Stone by dieting. I did the Couch 2 5k programme in the hope that it would improve my fitnes but despite also losing the stone, walking the 7 minute walk to nursery has me hot and sweaty even in cooler weather. It was like this when I was thinner too but I presumed I was just unfit.

When I walk, I'm not out of breath, just hot and sweaty. I find it uncomfortable trying to suck my tummy in and walk so that I don't waddle and have my belly stuck out but that's difficult too. I go slow when I can but then see other women breeze around faster and flawlessly.

Losing weight and working on my fitness, will this change the discomfort or am I just made this way?! It's not just that I swear but I feel hot too. Today is a killer and I don't have any summery clothes that I feel comfortable in.

OP posts:
3stonedown · 25/06/2018 12:21

Do you wear a lot of polyester etc? Some fabrics are basically like wearing plastic. It's not just cheap clothes either, there are plenty of £50 tops made from rubbish fabrics.

bringincrazyback · 25/06/2018 12:27

It's so awkward when you want to walk more but feel crap in clothes and don't want to be seen. A vicious circle!

OP, this remark made me want to give you a hug. Flowers I'm a similar weight to you, so I know the struggle only too well, and yes, being heavier does make it harder in this weather. I've recently started walking a little to try and get fitter and some days I feel the same, like I don't want to be seen, but then I think to hell with what anyone else thinks - I am as good as they are and I refuse to let other people's potential thoughts of me stop me from doing something I want to do that benefits my health and wellbeing. Half the time people aren't even thinking anything about passers-by anyway, they're too busy going about their day and stressing over their own problems.

Fickleflock · 25/06/2018 12:31

From my experience feeling the heat more and getting sweaty easily doesn’t seem to depend on weight or size. I have ranged from size 8 to 12 and have always been intolerant to the heat and always get sweaty - usually face and neck but not armpits Confused. I would always be the one at work to discreetly turn the air con up and then get colleagues (of all different sizes) moaning about how cold it was - COLD!! Seriously!!? I’m sure its to do with undiagnosed thyroid/hormonal issues. Unfortunately I have had too many tests to remember but they have always come back within normal range so not much I can do. Also, my son is exactly the same - he can be covered in sweat and looks like he has been sprayed with the hose! Again, went to GP about it and basically got told - ‘errr, you do know sweating is healthy don’t you?!’ He wasn’t concerned that it was excessive sweating. Sorry this probably doesn’t help at all but just know you’re not alone! - hereditary more than anything x

crazycatbaby · 25/06/2018 12:32

I am overweight (working on it!) and have always been quite warm, I'm especially hot at the moment which I put down to being heavier, and also I have an under active thyroid so I'm either boiling or chilly 🤷🏻‍♀️

eurochick · 25/06/2018 12:36

I sweat a lot and get red faced. I always have, regardless of fitness levels. I've been a healthy bmi all my adult life. It got a bit better after pregnancy, when I was bigger than before so I think it's partly hormonal.

But also bear in mind you are carrying maybe 5 stone of extra weight. That's two toddlers you are lugging around with every step you take.

Sausagerollers · 25/06/2018 12:54

Have you tried the fashion company HOTSQUASH? They use technology fabrics to keep you cool and go up to size 22.
Their Instagram has bloggers telling you more about it hotsquash_london

Caribbeanyesplease · 25/06/2018 12:55

I’m very slim and your description of how you feel is not something I have experienced or relate to.

And not something any fellow slim person has complained about to me

Caribbeanyesplease · 25/06/2018 12:57

Between my sister and me I'm the heaviest but lost 72kg since last April- she sweats more than I do and I have PCOS.

Good lord that is a jaw dropping weight loss

ComtessedeLancret · 25/06/2018 13:02

I don’t think it’s weight related at all, perhaps more genetic/individual - I’ve lost over half my body weight (11st) and still get very sweaty/red etc - I used to think I got that way because I was overweight but now I’ve realised that it’s just me and I run hot and get sweaty/red regardless.

HyggeHeart · 25/06/2018 13:02

Another one for getting sweaty just walking when I was still breast feeding. Hadn't happened before and hasn't since i stopped.

ThumbWitchesAbroad · 25/06/2018 13:13

I'm also going to say I don't think it's necessarily weight-related.
I have always been a huge sweater, even at my fittest and thinnest (bottom of the "healthy" weight for my height, rowing, weight training, playing lacrosse etc.)

When I played lacrosse at school, even my oppo used to worry about me because I would turn beet red and sweaty after running for a while - in winter, in school sport skirts, being skinny.

I sweat hugely through my head too - not a good look in the night clubs! - I'd be trying to dry my hair under the hand driers in the ladies' loos. So do both my sons - after they've been running for a while, they both look like they've been under the shower, and neither of them are overweight either.

Being overweight now exacerbates the problem, sure, but I've always had it.

Karigan198 · 25/06/2018 13:14

Maybe but not necessarily. I’m not fat, can run 15k but I get seriously hot for the first part of the exercise and can overheat badly. It’s not a fat issue just a poor circulation and acclimatisation issue.

Keep going and you will feel better but the getting hot etc may not stop

sociopathsunited · 25/06/2018 13:15

I can have bright red cheeks just from sitting at my desk! I think the overall consensus appears to be "some might be weight related but some of us just feel the heat more than others". Not being a natural sweat-er is nothing to be smug about, and neither is being an over-heater something to be ashamed of. Isn't the human body wonderful, how different we all are?

bumblingbovine49 · 25/06/2018 13:16

Well I am very very overweight and I would much rather the temperature be in the high 20s/low 30 Deg than cold. I loathe it being very cold

NotAnotherNoughtiesTune · 25/06/2018 13:18

I think so - I get this too and nearly 12 and a half stone but very short.

I'm not out of breath but it does make me sweaty/look flushed.

bumblingbovine49 · 25/06/2018 13:20

For instance , I am in an office today , quite an airless hot one an the temp outside is around 28'Deg but I feel quite confortable in temperature and not at all too hot. I am morbidly obese.

Obviously if I was slimmer I would be able to walk fast in this heat and not sweat too much which probably happens now but generally heat does not bother me too much

user1495997773 · 25/06/2018 13:28

I'm with TheHulksPurplePanties as I'm a healthy weight and a size 12, but I sweat a lot too. I just think some people are more prone to it, sadly.

MinaPaws · 25/06/2018 13:38

Be careful with the sucking in of the tummy all the time, can cause problems.
@Pippylou

Really? What problems? (I try to do it all the time.)

GorgonLondon · 25/06/2018 13:54

I'm slim and fit (work out daily) and I don't sweat at all walking along the road, even if i'm walking fast and it's hot.

But I find it quite difficult to break a sweat at the gym - some other people who are also very fit sweat bucketloads.

I think it's more likely that you sweat heavily if you're overweight but there are individual differences.

BlueBug45 · 25/06/2018 13:59

@hmcAsWas in hot countries people particularly women tend to wear long flowing clothes not shorts and small tops.

SaltyPeanut · 25/06/2018 14:01

I think sometimes it can be physical but it can also be psychological in origin no matter what your size. I used to sweat more when I was slimmer but I also used to feel more anxious generally back then too.

Do you get anxious when you're out. Sucking in the gut, wondering who's looking at you, feeling self-conscious, worrying about being late. Does your body feel stiff, taught and achey. Are you holding yourself tight and tense.

I've personally found anxiety can have a severe effect on feeling hot and sweating.

Also, have found the more you worry about being hot and sweaty, the worse it gets. I used to get so her up about it that I'd sweat buckets just sitting down even in winter. Once I learned to stop worrying so much the excess sweating calmed right down.

BlueBug45 · 25/06/2018 14:06

@Ficklefock I find most air conditioning cold and actually have goose pimples. So cold in fact if I'm wearing a skirt/dress I have to take tights with me to work to put on and then take off at the end of the working day.

I exercise a lot and sweat a lot so find I can regulate my own body temperature inside buildings especially if most of my exercise has been outdoors. Oddly in winter I frequently find myself too hot.

Pippylou · 25/06/2018 14:16

Sorry, I don't use enough words! I also pick up too many bits of random info off the interweb!

It was me with the sucking in comment & I've been trying to find the actual source of where I got that from. Think it was a Katy Bowen book, she's a posture & restorative exercise therapist.

The general idea, if I remember correctly, is that if you do suck in lot, you get very tight in the tummy & it's bad for gut function. (Tries to avoid being called a poo troll).

She advocates an exercise where you go on all fours and totally relax the back and let the tummy go. It's pretty good, actually! Not just for gut function, if you get back or knee issues, usually indicates a hip mobility problem. Really common if you have an office job or drive a lot.

If I find the actual blog post or book ref, I'll post...

Geekster1963 · 25/06/2018 14:20

I’m reasonably slim and as soon as I start a run I go bright red and the sweat pours out of me. It doesn't seem to matter how fast or far I go it always happens and always has so it’s not my age. It was the same when I was three stones heavier too. My Sisters are the same so it must be family related.

TheClitterati · 25/06/2018 21:11

Thumbs I too am a prolific head sweater. I too danced the night away in clubs and got a sweaty head BlushBlush

Good grief!

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